Consumers Suing Lax Retailers, post-EMV. Plus: Baseball

In another sign of how the responsibility for data security — and the liability for same — is shifting, Payments Source reports that “merchants are facing consumer lawsuits stemming from the introduction of EMV-chip card security at the point of sale in the U.S., exposing the issues many stores must contend with now that they are held liable for fraud and chargebacks.”

The article discusses a lawsuit against Wendy’s, alleging the fast food chain failed to protect customers’ credit and debit card information, as well as other personally identifiable information,” during a recent breach.

The article notes that while “the lawsuit does not specifically reference EMV, it does allege that Wendy’s was not using the most up-to-date processing equipment. The suit suggests that hackers employed the same malware that enabled recent cyber attacks such as the breaches at Home Depot and Target.”

Though according to one payments attorney they talked to, the suit may be trying to “show that Wendy’s failure to use the EMV chip is some form of negligence. If my analysis is correct, I think that’s very different than the liability shift issue that we in the industry are very worried about.’”

Perhaps. The article also goes on to say that “the potential for future lawsuits stems from the fact that many merchants have taken steps to purchase new EMV equipment and train their employees how to use the system, but are still stuck having to use the old magstripe systems because they’re still waiting for certification from the card networks.”

You don’t have to be one of those merchants, since you have AVPS for any upgrades and support you may need (and given the present litigious and “hackish” environment, the sooner you get around to upgrading, the better!)

Of course, the same online issue of Payments Source had another article saying “when surveyed, consumers will say security is far more important than convenience when making a payment — until they reach the checkout. Then convenience feels pretty good.”

So the trick is to stay both secure, and up-to-date with convenient payment options. Such as those mentioned at Pymnts.com, in a post 4th-of-July wrap up, where they surveyed the state of payments at the nation’s ballparks — including one minor league Red Sox affiliate, in particular.

Renovations for that stadium will include faster permitting for vendors so they can move around the stands with mobile card readers, to go along with all those peanuts, popcorn bags, and malteds. All this so “no one will ever have to watch a baseball game parched or hungry because they neglected to take out cash ahead of time.”

They quote the team’s VP as saying “we’ve seen over the last few years that consumers aren’t carrying cash, and no one wants to get up in the middle of a game to go find an ATM. At that point, why not just go buy your hot dog elsewhere? It defeats the purpose of having vendors on the go if customers still have to get out of their seats to pay them.”

So in this new fiscal year, don’t defeat your customers’ purpose in both wanting to buy from you, and wanting to keep their information safe, all at the same time.